STATE LABOR BOARD UPHOLDS WORKER

A state labor board has ruled in favor of a housing authority worker who took care of personal business on authority time, using an agency truck.

The state Board of Mediation and Arbitration's three members ruled unanimously in favor of James Jackson, and ordered the town to reimburse him for the wages he lost when he was suspended for one day without pay, according to the arbitration award. A copy was filed in the town clerk's office Thursday.

The suspension stemmed from a day in 1994 when Jackson spent about 40 minutes trying to pay his rent, because he initially went to the wrong office, according to the award and John Roughan, housing authority director.

The panel found that Jackson -- who lived in a housing authority apartment -- had been paying rent the same way for years, in part because authority offices were closed during his assigned lunch break. He had not been disciplined in the past, the board found.

Jackson was under a court order to pay his rent at the office of the authority's attorney, rather than the housing authority office, the document states. But he forgot to go to the proper office, and accidentally went to the housing authority to pay his rent, it states.

He then went to the lawyer's office and paid it, the award states. He was under a court order because he failed to pay his rent on time, Roughan said. Jackson's union, Local 1303-353 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Jackson had not been disciplined since he started working for the authority in 1971. It called the suspension a violation of contract.

The union also said Jackson was grief-stricken at the time by the death of his wife and overwhelmed with paying bills.

But Roughan said Jackson's wife had died in 1992 -- two years before the incident.

"What bearing does it have on breaking the work rules?" he asked. Jackson falsified his time report by not noting the errand, Roughan said, which he called a serious violation.

"It's an atrocious decision. It's terrible," he said. "The panel made a serious error in judgment."

The authority is considering appealing the decision in court, Roughan said.